If you’re running about the city, shopping your ass off and burning precious calories, refueling is needed. Now there’s a brand new option for doing just that, at Smashburger in Mockingbird station. The burger chain’s PR folks invited me to join in a lunchtime smashing event, which I could not turn down. Here’s what we tried. Try not to judge; I know it was a LOT.

As we sat down, our tables became stocked with “sides.” Smashburger has six sides, all fried things. But you’re at a burger joint, so you’re not surprised. They have regular potato fries, sweet potato fries, both of those wish smash seasoning, and then the rest of the stuff you’ll see below…

Even the veggies are fried. Flash-fried I’m told. Okay. They taste pretty darn good.

Fried pickles. These ones are sliced pretty thin and taste damn good. Too bad the ranch they serve at Smashburger is laughable; otherwise I’d probably down an entire basketful myself.

Fried jalapeños were a big hit at my table.

Haystack onions, a twist on the traditional onion ring. These are much easier to eat. My only complaint is still that shitty sauce they call ranch.

The first burger to grace our plates was this one. The Jalapeño BBQ Smashburger is only available in Texas and comes loaded with grilled garlic jalapeños, BBQ sauce, cheddar, bacon and haystack onions. I gave my bacon away and got to work.

Before we begged that our burgers be cut into fourths rather than halves, this mushroom and cheesy guy came out. It’s hard to choose, but I think this one was my favorite.

This is the inside of the simple original smashburger. Always a solid choice.

You can get any burger on the menu as a chicken sandwich or veggie burger. The black bean burger is a pretty good way to go meatless.

Smashburger is not for the health conscious, but if you get dragged there with friends while on a diet, be advised that big-ass salads like this one exist.

This smashed chicken number was tasty with cucumber, onion, tomato, spinach and goat cheese.

THIS is a salted caramel milkshake. It’s incredible and I wish they served these tiny version every day so I could indulge with less guilt.

Lastly, we got to check out the smashing firsthand. The folks at Smashburger have invented a special burger smasher that they use to press the meat while assuring the juices inside have nowhere to hide. The result is a smashed-thin burger with crust and juice.

After we tried seven burgers, a salad and a milkshake, this is what my plate, nay, trough looked like. I was truly smashed.

Smashburger in Mockingbird Station  | 5319 E. Mockingbird Lane | smashburger.com

NOTE: This lunch was for media, bloggers and the like, so it was free to all of us. Just in case that wasn’t clear. But as you know I would never recommend a place if I didn’t believe it was worth the time and calories.